The Legio Mechanicae
General Formed from humans seeded on the world traditionally called Maarunuus (renamed Lorem Machinam by the Legio) rather than Earth by the forerunners after the firing of the Halo Array, The Legio Mechanicae are a somewhat xenophobic Technocratic-Phobocratic Oligarchy who are obsessed with immortality, power, and the collection of knowledge. In search of immortality, and at the least, extention of life, they frequently expiriment with organic and synthetic compounds. All citizens have mechanical augmentations to some extent, with more wealthy citizens often becoming more machine than man to bring them nearer to immortality. History The Legio was founded nearly 3200 years ago by a collection of highly intelligent, ambitious, and charismatic humans and their followers in hopes that their combined knowledge would quicken their feet on the path to immortality and dominance over the galazy. Approximately 50 years after its founding, fighting broke out within the Legio, and the first Apparatus Dominus would rise as head of the modern Legio. By 3000 years in the past, the Legio had conquered Maarunuus and renamed it Lorem Machinam. In time, the Legio's power grew and grew, and by 2775 years in the past, they had begun on the path to becoming a galactic empire and began conquering, subjugating or annihilating many worlds and species through the might of their military. At 1500 years in the past, a species now known as "Gryllians" escaped from the top-secret bio-experimentation world know only in the upper echelons of the Legio as BEW-719. They were presumed to be poorly equipped, and were not pursued. But approximately 400 years ago, reports of contact with a species resembling large crickets were spreading through the Legio, and an unknown member of the Legio leaked that they were an escaped Legio experiment. The leak spread throughout the Legio, and many of its planets saw the revelation of the Gryllian's escape as a sign that the Legio had grown weak, and rose up to secede from the Legio. The Legio Civil War lasted nearly 200 years, until very recently, and resulted in a pyrrich victory for the Legio. The Legio crushed the organized rebellion, but at the cost of many lives and machines. Many planets were also able to escape the Legio's grasp in the chaos of civil war, and cells of rebels, some well equipped, still remain. As the Legio recovers, they have embarked on a galaxy-spanning crusade to reclaim lost territory and annihilate remaining rebels, along with what was nearly their final mistake, the Gryllians. Branches of the Legio The Legio is divided into Fraternitates, or brotherhoods, each controlling a part of it. 'Fraternitatis Machina' Ruling body Ruler- Apparatus Dominus, Highest Authority, similar to Emperor or Dictator Nobility- Apparatus Nobilitate, Planetary Government and Governors, Heads of many Fraternitates. Head of Military- Cataphractos Apparatus Dominus, Highest Military Commander, designs and executes extremely large scale plans and strategies, and rarely takes to the field of battle. Also head of the Fraternitatis Arma. 'Fraternitatis Arma' Military branch Head- Cataphractos Apparatus Dominus Fraternitatis Arma Standard Infantary Members of the Fraternitatis Arma are augmented with the standard required augmentations of the citizens of the Legio, and may also receive various combat augmentations varying by combat role. Members then go through an 8-week combat training program. They wear Augment-Interfacing armor, and carry various weapons, most often the Sol-Pattern MkIII Directed Light Weapon. Fraternitatis Magna Arma Elite Infantary/Special Forces Members of the Fraternitatis Magna Arma are chosen from exceptional recruits of the Fraternitatis Arma, and receive extra augmentations and training after completing the basic Fraternitatis Arma training. Members wear improved, Ceramite-Shelled, Augment-Interfacing armor, with mechanical limbs attached to the back, carrying weapons and grasping claws, depending upon the soldier's preference and the number of attached limbs. Members make use of various weapons, most often the Wrath-Pattern MkIV Heavy Assault Rifle or variations of it, and far less commonly the Meltdown-Pattern MkI Experimental Plasma Weapon and Supernova-Pattern MkI Experimental Close Quarters Plasma Weapon. 'Fraternitatis Arma Titanicus' Titan Battalions 'Fraternitatis Arma Clipeus' Planetary Defense Forces (PDF) 'Fraternitatis Caminus' Forge Worlds and their ruling bodies 'Fraternitatis Inquisitio ' Head- Inquirentem Dominus '' The Legio's Inquisition 'Fraternitatis Bibliotheca' Branch devoted to collection and organization of knowledge 'Fraternitatis Investigationis' Branch devoted to research, most often in fields of life extension/immortality 'Fraternitatis Augmentationem' Branch devoted to designing augmentations military augmentations and mandatory augmentations, also oversees the production and implementation of commercial augmentations. 'Fraternitatis Navis' Navy of exoatmospheric craft as well as fighters Domain The Legio clashes with the Gryllian Imperium and less often smaller factions over lost territory. It also clashes with Independent Planets that were once part of the Legio and were able to escape during the Civil War in attempts to reclaim them. Most conflicts with independent planets often end with surrender of the planet with no resistance. The Legio controls 12 systems near the mid-point of the Galaxy (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil War, 43 Systems) Number of Planets in Empire- 42 (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil War, 114) Habitation/Administrative Worlds- 29 (Pre-Legio Civil War, 75) Forge Worlds- 11 (Pre-Legio Civil War, 30) Military Fortress Worlds- 2 (Pre-Legio Civil War, 5) Numbers Legio Population- Around 189 Billion (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil War, around 212 Billion) Fraternitatis Arma- around 96 Million members (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil War, around 201 Million), Fraternitatis Magna Arma- around 157 Million members (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil war, around 389 Million) Fraternitatis Arma Titanicus- 52 Battalions complete battalions, 37 incomplete and rebuilding (Battalion= 20 Raptor Titans, 15 Paladin Titans) (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil War, around 125 Battalions) Fraternitatis Navis- 60 Battlefleets complete battlefleets, 48 incomplete and rebuilding (Battlefleet= 3 Exterminator- Class Destroyers, 7 Vengeance- Class Medium Cruisers, 12 Whisper- Class Corvettes, 125 Rapier-Class Interceptors.) (Increasing, Pre-Legio Civil War, around 175 Battlefleets.) Fraternitatis Caminus- 11 Worlds intact, 3 damaged and rebuilding (Increasing through rebuilding and reclamation, Pre-Legio Civil War, 30 Worlds.) Fraternitatis Inquisitio- 173 known Inquisitorial Bands (Inquisitorial Band= A Legio Inquisitor and his/her staff.) (Steady, Only 35 Inquisitorial Bands were lost during the Legio Civil war, Pre-Legio Civil War, 210 known) Augmentations All citizens of the Legio Mechanicae have some sort of cybernetic augmentation. Mandatory augmentations are implanted when a citizen is deemed ready to receive them, most often around 10-13 years of age. Binary Code Speech Emitters and Receivers are mandatory and are used for more efficient communication, but are unintelligible to non-augmented individuals. Citizens of the Legio retain use of normal voices for communication with non-augmented individuals. Most citizens purchase or receive other augmentations, such as improved and modified limbs, among others. Notable Weapons '''Anti-Infantary Weapons' Sol-Pattern MkIII Directed Light Weapon Wrath-Pattern MkIV Heavy Assault Rifle Meltdown-Pattern MkI Experimental Plasma Weapon Supernova-Pattern MkI Experimental Close Quarters Plasma Weapon Vehicles Captial Ships Magnus Exterminatore ''(Civitas-Class Ultra-Heavy Destroyer) Reaper-Class Heavy Assault Carrier Exterminator-Class Destroyer Vengeance-Class Medium Cruiser Whisper-Class Corvette 'Fighters' Rapier-Class Assault Interceptor 'Dropships' Angel-Class Assault Dropship 'Tanks' Slayer-Class Tank Hammer-Class Super-Heavy Tank 'Titans and Walkers''' Raptor-Class Assault Titan Paladin-Class Heavy Assault Titan Velitans-Pattern Scout Walker Optero-Class Close Combat Walker Category:The Legio Mechanicae Category:Factions